As of today it’s legal in Oregon to possess and use marijuana. The law, however, doesn’t allow a person to buy it. That won’t happen for another six months, but if you happen to have some, or if someone gives some to you (yeah, right), you can possess up to 8 ounces and use it in your home.

There was a time, back when I was in college, when I’d be jubilant about this, but these days I don’t much care.

There were big celebrations around town, a “smoke out” on one of the bridges, a “give out” for free weed downtown (we didn’t know about it until it was over). Costs in Washington, next door across the river, run $175-$300 an ounce. Yikes! Back in the day I paid $10. Of course that had sticks and seeds, this is all cleaned buds, but still!

I smoked a bit in my youth but never cared about it. Just did it to be sociable. What’s crazy about my state, where it’s legal, is that they still test some job applicants and reject them if they’ve used it.

I’m happy to see it legal and look forward to it being so everywhere. Not because I am a user, but because I’m tired of listening to tirades about why it SHOULD be. Telling a dude, “Yeah, I agree, legalize it….” clearly isn’t enough to shut some of these guys that I encounter down.